Those of us who are seasoned veterans of the annual rite of making New Years’ resolutions can be forgiven for being a bit cynical about the whole process. How many times have we and our friends pledged to stop doing something or start doing something — and then abandoned those pledges before Valentine’s Day?It’s easy to feel that it’s hopeless to try and quit smoking, eat less junk food, watch less television. It’s easy to feel that old habits never die.New scientific data, however, would indicate that there is still hope, even for those of us whose habits have had decades to entrench themselves.In October, scientists at the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT released details of a study on the region of the brain that governs habitual behavior. The study was done on rats; in rats that section of the brain is called the infralimbic cortex. It’s in the prefrontal cortex, which a summary of the study explains is “where most thought and planning occurs, [and] is responsible for moment-by-moment control of which habits are switched on at a given time.”Habits are a good thing, according to a summary of the report at the website of the National Institutes of Health. They allow us to do repetitive actions — such as driving to work — without really thinking about them, which frees our brains up to think about other things. Some of our habits and repetitive actions, however, are unproductive or unhealthy, such as smoking and overeating — and both of those are habits that many people engage in while they are doing other things they aren’t really thinking about, such as driving to work or watching television.As anyone knows who has tried to break one of those negative habits, it’s really hard and it can seem sometimes like your brain is fighting against you. And in some ways, it is. For better or for worse, you are programmed to do certain things again and again, without thinking about them.The study done at the McGovern Institute indicates that it is possible to break those habits. It’s not clear yet how the discovery will translate into therapy for humans, however.In the studies done on the rats (in a maze, surprise!), a special light was used to shut off the infralimbic cortex just before one of the rats wandered down one corridor of the maze for no reason other than that it’s a habit. As soon as the infralimbic cortex was shut off, the rat stopped what it was doing and did something else.I doubt that a scientist is going to travel with me through my day and shine a light on my bad behaviors. And probably medical intervention isn’t really needed in my life. But scientists are hopeful that people with more serious conditions, such as obsessive compulsive disorder, might benefit from this discovery.And there was one little thread of information included in the study that we all might apply in normal life: The “bad” old behaviors can be broken but they are never forgotten. However, the brain will not revert to the old pattern as long as it has been replaced with a new one.
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Greg Fricke and James Boehmer, co-owners of Peggy Mercury in Kent, recently launched their first fashion line, “Imaginary Concerts.”
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Fricke and Boehmer are not there to stock their shelves with the same products customers find at standard makeup retailers. They’re there to help customers find what works for them. That usually means asking customers about themselves and learning about their beauty habits, skin, style and the way they like to present themselves. Fricke and Boehmer believe it’s their job to help customers bring out the qualities that suit them and determine what works best for their look.
So much of the Peggy Mercury world is about emboldening people to become more creative, and possibly bolder, versions of themselves. Some of this comes through the store’s creative collaborations with artists, designers and stylists.
It’s part of an ethos that encourages them and their friends to use the shop as a kind of laboratory, trying out new creative experiments without knowing how they might turn out. Whether in fashion, painting, fiber arts or photography, the projects almost always turn out marvelously.
A line of sterling silver charms they sell started as a small project by their friend Nolan Percival. In the beginning, the pieces were for close friends and loved ones. But Boehmer and Fricke encouraged Percival to get a little more serious about the project and create a whole line for the store. Today, it’s one of their top-selling collections.
Classic styles, bold colors, and creative concerts make up the “Imaginary Concerts” line at Peggy Mercury.Provided
“Imaginary Concerts” has the duo taking their own advice.
The project started as a way for Boehmer to connect with his mother, who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Taking old concert shirts from his own collection, Boehmer and his mother began cutting out the graphics with the idea that they would make a quilt together. Unfortunately, she died before they could complete the project in 2025. The pieces, which were ready for production, were put on the back burner as Boehmer and Fricke dealt with their loss and the whirlwind of projects that never seemed to cease at Peggy Mercury.
But the harsh winter of 2026 presented an opportunity to take some time and focus on themselves. Part of that meant revisiting and redefining the concert T-shirt project. This time, instead of looking to the warmth and comfort of a quilt, they turned to another passion — fashion.
Taking a page from their own book, they wanted to create something that felt comfortable to them. They took two disparate loves — one rooted in simple preppy style, with clean lines and classic silhouettes, and the other in the nitty gritty worlds of punk rock and pop — and blended them together to create something entirely new. Pulling from the staples of vintage Brooks Brothers and Charvet collections, they applied the graphic elements with bold stitching reminiscent of punk jackets of the ‘70s and ‘80s, but with a much more sophisticated air.
But the remixing isn’t just the pairing of prep and punk. The pieces are not canon. They take liberties with the realities of concert tours, combining one band’s dates with another band’s logos, mixing them all up until the reality is lost and imagination is the only truth.
Shirts from Peggy Mercury’s first fashion line, “Imaginary Concerts,” hang on display.Provided
Adding to the mix is an element of perpetual creativity. Art can be messy, both figuratively and literally, and many of Fricke and Boehmer’s artist friends carry evidence of their work on them at all times. As a nod to these tireless creatives, the duo added haphazard splashes of bright color, giving the line an even more distinctive feel.
For them, “Imaginary Concerts” passes the “Peggy Test.” The mythical Peggy Mercury is a fictional figurehead for the company, a character who thrives on creativity and change. The name, much like the clothing line, is a mixture of interests: Mercury is a planet, a deity and an elusive, transformative element, while Peggy is the wonderfully stylish and boundary-pushing Peggy Guggenheim.
Everything Fricke and Boehmer put in their store has to pass this test: Would Peggy Mercury approve? For their first collection, the answer is a resounding yes.
Peggy Mercury is at 9 Maple St., Unit 2, Kent.
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